While No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has focused school officials' attention on staying off the dreaded list of schools failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress, the story of the law's negative effects on teaching and learning, particularly in schools at risk of failure, is beginning to emerge. In this article, the authors discuss NCLB's effects on curriculum, test preparation, and dropouts/pushouts. Assessment of student learning is an important part of accountability. However, assessment must not include merely standardized tests of that which is easy to measure. Schools and systems also must not assume that the only important element of schooling is academic learning; rather, useful methods for evaluating student affect (emotional health) and motivation and school climate should be included in the evaluation and improvement process. (Contains 15 notes.)